10 BRIDGE

Contributed by Basudeo Agarwal

This game of mine is a variation of popular game Bridge. It also has some elements of the Indian card game 29, especially the way that the trump suit is not revealed until asked for by a player who is unable to follow suit.

Naming This game is played with 40 cards. Separate all 2, 3 and 4 spots from a simple playing card deck of 52 cards. These 12 cards are used for setting the trump suit and the game is played with the remaining 40 cards. So there are total 10 tricks in it and I named it:-

10 BRIDGE

ABOUT THE GAME :- 10 BRIDGE is played by 4 players with 40 cards, consisting of 10 cards in each of 4 suits. The cards of each suit rank in descending order :- Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5.

THE DEAL :- The dealer distributes the card face down, one at a time in clockwsie rotation into four separate hands of ten cards each, the first card to the player on his left and the last card to himself. The turn to deal passes in rotation.

THE BIDDING :- The dealer makes the first call, and thereafter each player calls in rotation.There are 10 tricks in total and 5 is half mark. Bidding in "10 BRIDGE" starts from 5, also known as 'love'.

Contract for 5 tricks :- 'love' level.

Contract for 6 tricks :- 1 level.

Contract for 7 tricks :- 2 level.

Contract for 8 tricks :- 3 level.

Contract for 9 tricks :- 4 level.

Contract for 10 tricks :-5 level or 'Full House'.

Each bid must name a number of level from 'love' (0) to 5 and a denomination. A bid supersedes the previous bid if it names either a higher level or a higher denomination at the same level.

DENOMINATIONS OF BIDS :- In ascending order.

Minor (Either Club suit or Diamond suit. Default is Club suit).

Red (Either Diamond suit or Heart suit. Default is Diamond suit).

Black (Either Spade suit or Club suit. Default is Spade suit).

Major (Either Heart suit or Spade suit. Default is Heart suit).

No Trump.

DOUBLES AND REDOUBLES :- A player may double only the last preceding bid if it was made by an opponent and no call other than a 'pass' has intervened. Similarly a player may re-double only the last preceding double if it was made by an opponent and no call other than a 'pass' has intervened.

DECLARER AND THE FINAL CONTRACT :- The call followed by three passes stands as final and declarer is the person who first named the 'denomination of the bid' - minor, red, black, major or no trump during auction. Final bidder may be any of two partners but the declarer is always the first who named that 'denomination' during auction.

If dealer's initial pass is followed by three passes; dealer is obliged to play that hand at "Love No Trump". So there is no passed out deal in "10 BRIDGE".

CONTRACTS :-

MINOR CONTRACT :- If the denomination of the final contract is 'Minor' or 'Red' , the contract is a 'Minor Contract', similar to contracts in the club and diamond suits in bridge. The trump suit may be either clubs or diamonds for the "Minor" denomination and either diamonds or hearts for the "Red" denomination. Please note that if the auction closes at 'Red' and the player chooses hearts as the trump suit, it is regarded and scored as a minor contract. So for a 'Minor Contract' the trump suit may be any of clubs, diamonds and hearts but never spades.

MAJOR CONTRACT :- If the final contract stands in 'Black' or 'Major' denomination, the contract is a "Major Contract", similar to heart and spade contracts in bridge. Please note that if the auction closes at 'black' and the player chooses clubs as the trump suit, it is regarded as a major contract. So for 'Major Contract', the trump suit may be any of hearts, spades and clubs but
never diamonds.

NO TRUMP CONTRACT :- Similar to bridge. It is known to everybody as soon as auction ends.

In "10 BRIDGE" the exact trump suit is not disclosed at the start. As soon as auction ends, the declarer sets trump suit by selecting the suit of his choice (naturally between the two implied by the denomination of the final bid) from 2, 3, 4 spot deck of 12 cards and puts that deck face down with a card of the chosen suit at the bottom. If by mistake or by any reason, the declarer selects any other suit apart from two suits permitted by the final bid, the default suit mentioned above is regarded as trump suit irrespective of declarer's choice.

DISCLOSURE OF THE TRUMP SUIT :- Once the trump suit is set by the declarer, play starts in similar fashion to bridge. The player to delaer's left makes the opening lead, then the dummy spreads the cards, and so on. When during the play any player including declarer himself fails to follow the suit, he has option to know the trump suit. But it is not mandatory, he may choose simply to discard instead.

If either of the opponents fails to follow the suit and wants to ruff, that opponent must ask the declarer for the trump suit. On his demand, the declarer turns face up the deck of 12 cards and the suit of the card on top is the trump suit if it from one of the two suits implied by the final bid. If it is neither of these suits, then the default suit is regarded as trump suit. The player who asked must then ruff if he is able to do so.

If the declarer himself is unable to follow suit, either in his own hand or in dummy, and wants to ruff, he must make this clear to the opponents. Then one of the opponents turns face up the deck of 12 cards. Only then should declarer ruff. If he fails to do ask for the trump suit to be shown, the card played by the declarer will be regarded as discard. The role of dummy is always silent during the play of the hand. As the trump suit is known to declarer, in the excitement of the play he may try to ruff without alerting the opponents. In such case he should not lament and make excuses, but
should take it in true sporting spirit.

Once the face down deck of 12 cards is turned face up, everybody knows the trump suit. The player causing revelation of the trump suit, must ruff if he is able to do so. After that to ruff is not compulsory for anybody, as in bridge. If declarer chooses to discard trumps while the trump suit is still concealed, he is free to do so.

The criteria for winning at "10 BRIDGE" is scoring points. Points are scored mainly by winning tricks. There are two sets of points; first is "Trick Points" and second is "Bonus Points".

TRICK POINTS :- To score 'Trick Points', a contract of level 1 to 5 must be bid.
First I make one thing clear: since 'love level' is 0 level, its multiplier is 0. Zero multiplied by any number gives zero. So there are no trick points for the 'love level' whether it is bid or played as the dealer's obligation after four passes.

Contract

Plain Game

Doubled Game

Redoubled Game

Minor

4

6

10

(Per trick)

Major

5

7

11

(Per trick)

No trump

7

9

13

(Per trick)

BONUS POINTS :-

LOVE CONTRACT BONUS :- This is awarded:

if auction ends at the 'love level', or

if the dealer is obliged to play the hand at 'love no trump'.

In a 'Love Contract' overtricks or undertricks are not scored. The only thing important is whether declarer fulfils the contract by taking at least five tricks or not. If he do so, Declarer gets bonus of 5 points and if he fails to do so opponents get 5 bonus points. So any love contract is a simple battle for 5 bonus points. Doubles and redoubles do affect the score. Very simple 0 x 4, 0 x 6 or 0 x 10 all are equal.

GAME BONUS :- At least 13 Trick Points scored in a single hand attracts a Game Bonus of 20 points. The level of contract needed for game varies according to the denomination bid.

SUPER GAME BONUS :- At least 25 Trick Points scored in a single hand gives a 40 point Game Bonus. The Super Game Level depends on the denomination bid. The Super Game Bonus replaces the ordinary Game Bonus - it is not additional, that is no 20 + 40.

(These scores are respectively for 1 to 6 tricks set. Yes, a contract could be set for all ten tricks, but undertricks beyond 6 are ignored in this game.)

PART SCORE :- Any 'Trick Point' score less than the game level is known as a part score. From the 'Trick Point Chart' it is apparent that in single hand it may be any from 4 to 12 points. Only the score for tricks that were bid and made counts towards the Carried Part Score. Scores for overtricks are not included.

'Carried Part Score' may be from a single hand or from more than one single hand. I will show it with the help of a scoring chart latter in this article.

To reach game level :- From 'Carried Part Score', game level must be reached with a part score. If either side bids enough for a whole game, this is scored separately and does not effect the structure of part score in any way. The side gets a normal 'Game Bonus' of 20 points if it reaches or crosses game level, that is 13 Trick Points. I produce a scoring chart at the end, that will make it more clear.

To reach super game level :- To reach or cross 'Super Game Level' from 'carried part score' game is necessary. As 'Carried Part Score ' can be maximum of 12 points carried from a single hand, two hands or three hands. To touch 25 at least 13 trick points, that is game is required. Super Games made in a single hand by either side are separate and do not effect the structure of part score in any way and rewarded separately. The side gets the normal ' Super Game Bonus' of 40 points if it reaches or crosses super game level, that is 25 Trick Points.

As soon as one side crosses/reaches game level or super game level, the 'carried part score' of both sides is set to to nil. I will demonstrate it with the help of scoring chart at the end of this article.

At the end if side or both sides having any 'carried part score' to their credit at the end of the session that side will get 5 bonus points.

SCORING CHART :-

Notes on the table:

CPS = Carried Part Score

The total score recorded for each hand includes the part score.

The "result" column is interpreted as follows.

If the contract is made, it shows the number of tricks above five taken by the declarer's side, with a plus sign. For example "+2" in deal 1 means that N/S took 7 tricks (5+2, having contracted for 6), not 8 tricks (2 above the contract).

If the contract fails, the results column shows the number of tricks taken relative to the contract bid, with a minus sign. For example "-2" in deal 5 means that N/S took 6 tricks (2 below the contract).